Deploy police at local schools

A high school the size of West Morris Central High School is
comparable to the size of small municipalities. Municipalities
require all kinds of services, including police services. Few would
say a municipality with more than 1,100 residents should not have a
police department to enforce the laws and provide other kinds of
emergency services. The high school has about 1,100 students,
exclusive of staff. But though the need seems self-evident and most
agree it is wise to deploy police in schools, there is not
agreement on how to pay the officers. In Washington Township,
officials say they believe in the value of having an officer in the
schools. But in the overall scheme, funding a police officer's
salary is not high priority. It should be.

The federal Community Oriented Police Service (COPS) office
recently rejected a request by the Washington Township Police for a
grant to pay the bulk of the salary for one school officer for
three years. The funding expires after three year s when the
municipality could continue funding the salaries or end the
program.

A spokesman for the COPS office said boards of education
commonly subsidize salaries for police in schools, otherwise known
as school resource officers.

But West Morris Regional High School District Superintendent
Henry Kiernan said the school board hasn't considered if it will
pick up a part of the costs for a school officer.

But given the pressure on districts to keep a lid on taxes, it
is not likely that the funds will be set aside for an officer while
the district needs improvements in educational areas.

Police Chief Ted Ehrenburg said he believes the school district
should contribute toward the school officer's salary. Without the
federal grant, Ehrenburg said he can't afford a new officer nor can
he afford to take an officer from patrol and reassign him to the
school.

As has been sadly demonstrated around the nation, all schools
are potential tinder boxes for violence. After the publicity of
each new act of school violence, the public and officials
everywhere decry the problem and wring their hands for a
solution.

Certainly, the presence of an officer will not stop school
violence. If someone wants to bring a weapon to school and is
committed to violence, it will happen.

But it has been shown that officers in schools can learn of
simmering problems and try to take action. Perhaps, the officer can
approach a troubled student who may be angry though not yet at the
point of acting. Perhaps the officer can help defuse the
problem.

In addition to bringing a concrete security presence to the
schools, the school officer acts as another counselor or confidant
to students. The officer also can help teach classes on subjects
such as drunk driving or crime.

Finally, the officer also can help eliminate the stereotype of
the police as being someone to fear rather than someone who helps.
Winning the respect and cooperation of the students is a major
goal.

All told, there are many benefits to having a police officer in
school. As school violence continues, as it likely will,
eventually, police will likely become accepted adjuncts of
schools.

It remains to be seen if the West Morris district is ready to
take such a progressive and useful step.

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In recent weeks, Long Hill Township and Watchung Borough passed ordinances allowing their police departments to be able to apply for surplus equipment from the Department of Defense. Long Hill recently procured a Humvee to use in times of flooding, which Watchung states as the reason they are getting into the program. However, in cities around the country, police forces have used the program to obtain military gear, such as weapons and armor.
For more background, go to the link below
http://www.newjerseyhills.com/echoes-sentinel/news/watchung-police-department-hopes-to-receive-equipment-from-department-of/article_12ad002a-92b3-5449-a2cc-4b2cf0ce4339.html